Office 365 plans to allow for the sending of encrypted email

Office 365 is Microsoft’s big aim to get business customers into the cloud. It also doesn’t hurt that the service generates a steady income stream, as opposed to the old one-time bounty collected from the purchase of desktop software. To gain acceptance in IT departments, though, the company must establish trust through security.

With that in mind, the software giant is unveiling a new feature that it hopes will go far in establishing this security. “We’re pleased to announce the upcoming release of Office 365 Message Encryption, a new service that lets you send encrypted emails to people outside your company,” announces Microsoft’s Shobhit Sahay.

The feature will roll out in early 2014 and be compatible across all major email platforms, such as Gmail, Outlook.com, Yahoo, Lotus Notes and more. Encryption will be included at no extra cost for E3 and E4 customers. Others can purchase the option at a cost of $2 per user per month.

This is a new version of Exchange Hosted Encryption, and Microsoft promises it will include “all of the capabilities of EHE plus new features, such as the ability to apply your company’s branding to encrypted messages. Like EHE, Office 365 Message Encryption works with Office 365 mailboxes as well as with on-premises mailboxes that use Exchange Online Protection.”